Center urges local authorities to mount a robust investigation into possible hate-crime

The Simon Wiesenthal Center today expressed outrage at the news from Oakland that fliers depicting Libby Schaaf, a local city councilmember, with a swastika on her forehead were plastered throughout the city. While no one has yet to claim responsibility, it is suspected that opponents of Councilmember Schaaf—who is Jewish—and her support for a controversial surveillance center were behind the flier campaign.

“It is totally unacceptable to target Councilmember Schaaf because of the faith community to which she belongs,” said Rabbi Meyer H. May, Executive Director of the Wiesenthal Center. “Because of its obscene significance, the use of a Nazi Swastika is ugly and profoundly offensive to the victims and survivors of the Holocaust, as well as people of goodwill everywhere. The Simon Wiesenthal Center shares the Councilmember's outrage and urges law enforcement to find those responsible and prosecute them to the full extent of the law,” he concluded.

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The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in the United States. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino).